First Day of Spring, New Breeches, Riko is Jumping Again!

I got to the barn last night and it was a balmy 45*F. I don't mind that temperature that much when the sun is up (and shining)...it's a decent spring temperature. But when it's damp, drizzly (and therefore cloudy), and the sun is setting soon, 45* feels pretty chilly.

I learned my lesson from last week and doubled up on the long sleeve layers underneath a t-shirt and a vest. 

I also was super excited to wear my new SmartPak Piper full-seat breeches. I had a little bit of an issue with the first pair I bought. After 2 wears and 1 wash, the seam right below the zipper had let go. I emailed them and of course, being SmartPak, they took them back and refunded my money with no questions asked. This worked out anyway, because I had ordered 2 sizes up, not knowing how much room I'd need to accommodate the full seat, and they were a bit too big. Since the Pipers had been like 60% off, I had purchased a 2nd pair in my regular size, before noticing the 1st pair had a seam issue. I sent the 1st pair back. The 2nd pair arrived and I tried them on. They fit mostly great but they were too tight in the thighs, due to the extra suede. So, I returned those, and bought a 3rd pair on a slightly less impressive sale, 1 size up, but still an amazing price for Pipers! I thought they were super cute and different, plus purple is my favorite color!

Close-up!

Feeling better and less frumpy!

Step count and active minutes

I slipped Riko a couple of scoops of Quiessence, per K's note on the assignment sheet, about 10 minutes before I took him out to start grooming and tacking. When I went to put my saddle on, I had to laugh because the girth that had been on his saddle (and had his name tag on it) was comically small for such a large horse. I was like, ok, well, maybe they know something I don't, and I tried it. Nope, barely reached his elbow on the near side. Oh brother. So I took the saddle and pads off and went back to the tack room to try to find a bigger one. I tried 3 other girths, to no avail. I finally went to K, laughing, and was like, soooo, this girth wouldn't fit him even if the billet straps went to his knees. She looked at it and was like, what the hell, this isn't his girth. She came to the tack room and we switched the girth with another horse that is currently on stall rest. I also took his saddle with me, in case my billet straps weren't long enough. They weren't. I had to really force it to 1 and 1 on his saddle, but once it was on, it was easy enough to tighten. I did mention to her after the lesson that it was still not quite right and she said she'd look into it, because they will need Timmy's back once he is cleared to work again.

Riko's saddle wasn't bad, once I got the stirrup length adjusted, but I think it's about a 16" and even my 17" is too small for my behind lately. So, I felt a little squished into it, but not off balance. M watched a few minutes of our warm-up and asked me to lower my right stirrup 1 hole, so I did, and it felt long but I also felt more balanced, if that makes sense. I must lean to the left. Once I adjusted to it, it felt more normal and centered. 

The lesson as a whole was great. Our trot work was solid, he was soft in the contact and not hanging on me, and he was listening. I had a bit of trouble the first few times around at the canter. The saddle made me want to sit, but he does better with half seat and then I might have been balancing on his mouth or just not following the motion enough, because I had trouble keeping him in the canter and he broke a few times. We ended up halting at the A end of the arena to wait for a clear spot before following the others across the diagonal for a simple change to the left lead. The left felt more put together, so I guess it could have also been the change in my stirrup length going the other way! 

Finally we walked for a minute and K reset the 4 jumps to a cross-rail and a vertical heading home on the long side and a cross-rail and a vertical heading away on the opposite long side. I ended up being first since I was walking by the mirror where she wanted us to line up. 

She said, Riko has been really great over fences, so let's trot in and canter out and see what he gives us. She added, if you stay with him, give a big release, and don't catch him in the mouth, he is much less likely to play on the backside. 

So, we trotted in to the cross-rail heading home and he launched a bit even though I half-halted a few strides out, so I got left behind, but I tried my best to catch up to him in the air and I remembered to breathe! He landed quietly on the correct lead and we continued to the vertical, with a half halt about 3 strides out and he took it really nicely, so I stayed with the motion and released up his neck. He landed politely and we cantered back to the end of the line by the mirror. 

K said, that was lovely. And I replied, I got a little left behind because he launched, but I remembered to breathe! So, we focused on remembering to breathe and staying with him after that.

The second time, K suggested that I stay in 2-point trotting to the cross-rail so I was already over his neck a bit and could grab mane to stay with him if he launched again. She also told me to half-halt all the way to the fence and exhale each time. I did both suggestions and the cross-rail was really nice, but he got a bit silly afterwards, so we did a large circle before going to the vertical. Found our distance and sailed over it quietly with a big release.

She said, very nice! Did you breathe? lol, I said, yes, I did!

The third time was kind of a mix between trips 1 and 2. He didn't launch over either fence, and we didn't have to circle in between. He took the line in a quiet 6 and he was very proud of himself (and maybe me?!) after the vertical, but he stayed polite, I released over both fences and I remembered to breathe!

For our last trip, she had us trot in, canter out, and then come back to the trot to do the line away from home. He came in quietly, with me still in 2-point, came back to me in between and took the vertical quietly. He thought we were done, but I pushed him into a circle and asked him to trot so we could do the 2nd line. He was quiet again, got a bit excited in between but came back to me when I half-halted. 

We took the vertical from a great distance and he got playful on the other side and dropped his big ole heavy head between his knees and started kicking up his heels. I had a bit of trouble picking him up (he's heavy!), but he wasn't trying to dump me (because if he was, I would have been done), he was just celebrating. I finally was able to get his head back up and praised him as we stood in the middle for the next person to go.